Not applicable.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to musical instrument stands, specifically to a musical instrument stand for enabling the instrument to remain in an upright position when not in use and which is retained on the instrument when the instrument is in use.
2. Description of Prior Art
Musicians are often faced with the challenge of temporarily supporting their instrument when it is not being played. Instruments such as guitars are subject to potential damage if simply laid flat on the floor, so it is common practice to lean the neck or head of the instrument against a piece of furniture or a wall.
Leaning the neck of such an instrument against a piece of furniture or the like often results in the upper part of the instrument sliding laterally, causing the entire instrument to fall to the floor, again resulting in damage to the instrument. Leaning the head of such an instrument against a wall or a piece of furniture has the added disadvantage of potentially putting the instrument out of tune due to the tuners in the head coming in contact with the wall or furniture.
Conventional stands for musical instruments have been free standing devices which rest on the floor, into which the instrument is placed when not in use. While some of these stands are collapsible to some degree, they still represent an additional piece of equipment the musician must deal with, requiring time, effort and space to transport, store, deploy and use.
Four types of stands which are retained on the musical instrument in a collapsed configuration while the instrument is being played, and which can then be deployed as a stand when the instrument is not in use have been proposed. Of these, three require a degree of manual manipulation to either deploy or to store. Since convenience is major factor necessitating such a stand, the importance of automatic or semi-automatic operation is significant.
One device, U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,701 by Olson is a mechanically complex device. While it does include spring loaded legs which are automatically released when the bottom end of the guitar is placed on the floor, it requires that the same legs be manually forced back into their housing, against the pressure of the springs, before the musical instrument can be used. In the case of the guitar or other similar instrument, there is no practical way to hold the instrument to apply an opposing force necessary to accomplish this act. These instruments can easily be held by their neck, but this would be difficult due to the leverage provided by the length of the neck it is not easy to adequately grip such an instrument in the midst of it""s body, where the opposing force is required.
In addition to the disadvantage of this difficulty in returning the collapsible legs to their stored position, the device suffers from an overly complex mechanical design, causing a number of other disadvantages:
(a) The tooling, manufacture and assembly for the device would be expensive. The design requires numerous custom made parts which need to adhere to close tolerances in order for the device to function properly. The labor required to assemble the numerous parts would be relatively costly.
(b) The mechanical complexity of the device would render it subject to potential breakdowns requiring repair or replacement.
(c) Several sliding and pivoting parts could require periodic lubrication. Lubricants attract and retain dust and dirt, and this dust and dirt would be easily transferred to the clothing of the user, especially when playing the instrument, at which time the device is in actual contact with the user""s clothing.
(d) The mechanical complexity of the device contributes to an overall bulky and obtrusive appearance. This has both an aesthetic and a practical impact: Aesthetic since the device is visually obtrusive, and practical since the bulkiness of the device causes interference against the user""s body when the instrument is being played.
Another device, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,161 by Uhrig, is a simpler device, but suffers from several major disadvantages:
(a) The device is attached to the musical instrument by the means of the screws which hold the neck of the instrument to the instrument body. Loosening these screws in order to mount the device can cause misalignment of the neck and body of the instrument, resulting in a number of functional problems in the instrument.
(b) The supporting leg(s) is not spring mounted, thus manual manipulation is required for both deployment and collapsing of the device. While this solves one of the problems of the device previously cited, it adds another level of inconvenience to the user.
(c) Because the device is attached by screws at a predetermined point on the instrument, and the length of it""s supporting leg is not adjustable, the device would be compatible only with those instruments where the distance from the neck-to-body attaching screws to the bottom of the instrument happens to match the length of the device""s leg.
(d) The requirement of attaching the device at the point where the neck meets the body of the instrument requires the device span the entire length of the instrument body, resulting in a device that is both bulky and obtrusive.
(e) The requirement to attach the device by means of the screws which attach the neck to the body of the instrument would prevent the device from being used on those instruments, such as hollow-body acoustic guitars and the like, which do not incorporate screws as a means of attachment of the neck to the body of the instrument.
(f) The attachment by means of screws to any location on an instrument other than where screws already exist would result in the defacing of the instrument.
Yet another device, U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,375 by Kellogg et al. comprises an L-shaped bracket which is attached to the instrument via the instrument""s strap-nut screw. A support member is hinged to the bracket and a retaining clip is manually manipulated by the user to either hold the support member in it""s open position or to release the support member to it""s stored position adjacent the back of the instrument. The device suffers a deficiency common to those previously cited:
(a) The user must manually manipulate the stand both to deploy and to disengage the stand. This requires no small degree of dexterity given that the user must raise the instrument with one hand and at the same time deploy or disengage the stand with the other. In the case of a guitar or other similar instrument, the only practical way to raise the instrument with one hand is to grasp the instrument by the neck, typically just below the head. From this position there is considerable leverage applied between the point where the user is grasping the instrument and the point where the stand is attached, causing difficulty in stabilizing the instrument sufficiently to apply the force necessary to deploy or disengage the stand.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,522 by Woollen proposes a mounting block which is attached to the back of the instrument with suction cups. A support member is attached to the block which swings out from the instrument to provide support. The support member is spring-loaded relative to the mounting block so it automatically returns to a stored position when the instrument is lifted for use. A spring-loaded center foot engages the floor as the instrument is retired from use, allowing the instrument to be pivoted away from the support member, thus deploying the stand. While this design solves the convenience problem that the previous citations suffer from by providing automatic deployment and disengaging, it suffers from one shortcoming:
(a) The attachment of the stand to the instrument by means of suction cups presents a stability and security question. If the suction cups were to come unattached while the stand is deployed, the instrument would suffer potential damage. Even given that the suction cups don""t become unattached, the uncertainty of such an occasion would create hesitancy in the mind of the user and may thus challenge the market viability of the design.
The present invention pertains to a stand for supporting a musical instrument, such as a guitar, in an upright position when the instrument is not being used. The stand remains attached to the instrument when it is being played. The device is both deployed and collapsed without direct manipulation by the user. The stand comprises an L shaped mounting block, a flat stand member joined to said mounting block by a clevis joint and hinge pin, and a retaining clip and catch mechanism whereby the flat stand member is retained in an open position. Said L shaped mounting block includes a slot or screw hole for attaching said block to the musical instrument using the screw and strap button typically found at the base of stringed instruments. Said flat stand member is spring loaded such that absent any force to the contrary, it returns to a closed position adjacent the back of the instrument, and includes a foot member which protrudes beyond the base of the instrument allowing the leveraging of the stand to an open position by engaging said foot member against a floor or other support surface. Said flat stand member further includes a catch mechanism which interferes with the travel of the retaining clip to retain the stand in the open position until the instrument is raised from the floor for use, at which time said catch mechanism releases said retaining clip and allows said flat stand member to return to the closed position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support stand which is attached to a musical instrument, such as a guitar, for supporting the instrument in an upright position when the instrument is not in use, which can be stored unobtrusively on the instrument in a closed state while the instrument is being played, and be conveniently transitioned between closed and open positions without direct manipulation by the user.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:
(a) to provide a stand for a musical instrument which allows for rapid, convenient deployment;
(b) to provide a stand for a musical instrument which stores unobtrusively on the instrument while the instrument is being played;
(c) to provide a stand for a musical instrument which requires no direct manipulation by the user;
(d) to provide a musical instrument stand which is mechanically simple and inexpensive to produce;
(e) to provide a musical instrument stand which uses a minimal number of parts;
(f) to provide a musical instrument stand which requires little or no maintenance;
(g) to provide a musical instrument stand which requires no lubrication;
(h) to provide a musical instrument stand which will fit instruments of varying sizes, types and shapes, and both solid-body and hollow-body guitars;
(i) to provide a musical instrument stand which can be easily removed and/or reattached from/to the same or a different instrument;
(j) to provide a musical instrument stand which attaches to the instrument without disturbing the instrument""s integrity or appearance; and
(k) to provide a musical instrument stand which is sleek, lightweight, compact, and thus easy to transport and store.